DAY 6. One Rio tourney played...One Final Table!

Another Shameless Photo of a True Hottie to grab your attention and force you to read my daily diatribe. Her name is Keeley Hazell...she is from the UK...she is ridiculously hot...and there is a rumor that she has started taking poker lessons. CLICK HERE to read more about Miss Hazell...and uh...see ya later, as I know you won't be back...I really do need to start putting these on the BOTTOM of my blog page, huh!!!???

It is quarter to 12 and I really don't want to miss too much of the first three levels at Venetian...not as bad as these fools play...too many chips to be had. So this will be incredibly brief.

This is the 6th day. On the fifth day I ventured over to Rio...where I had been the night before, and won the first SNG I played since being 'dis-invited' from playing at the Rio in the summer of 2009. Yesterday was my first tourney back at 'The Big House'...just their little 2pm $235 they invented last year to keep people from busting out of the noon, or just skipping the noon (with the bigger buy in) and sticking around Rio ...instead of fleeing the premises for Venetian. Have to admit, it was a pretty clever move by them.

It was a good tourney...sort of. My hero of the day was Ivan the Dealer. Whenever Ivan came around...my chip stack got bigger. Whenever he left...it got smaller. Then he would return....bigger. He came and went four times. I needed him on the final orbit. I got Raul. Raul was mean. I got busted. Yeah...this is what you call a really short synopsis of a 10 hour journey to Final Table land.

The structure through 10 levels was reasonable. Then it just completely fell off a cliff. At two tables...which put us all in the money (135 players) the average stack was 12 BB's. When we got to the final table...the avg was 8 BB's. Yes...there would be no 3 and 4-betting. It was pretty much All In or fold. I had nearly 300,000 and wanted to feel good...but when you realize that is only 15 BB's....kind of deflates you. Then twice through the blinds and you are down to 10 BB's.

Well, I picked up 99 on the button and had no other play but all in to pick up a 42k pot. Only problem? Dude in SB....who had me covered by 15k...calls with AJ...and Raul slaps him a jack on the flop. Out. 10 hrs. $650 won. We will call that a virtual waste of a day. But I had a relatively good time. And sure...it DID feel good to come back to Rio (finally) and Final Table my very first event. Just wish I could have scored a Top Three...because if I had, I was going to play the $1500 Omaha 8 or better today. But since I didn't, it will be the Venetian $550, in the interest of bankroll management.

The Rio looks amazing. Now, in addition to the Amazon room and its bazillion tables, you have another room with a sea of tables...its just incredible. Then on the other side of the hall, you have a giant room with merchandise as well as a virtual food court...that offers five or six various kinds of food. I am really fascinated by the whole layout. What is ominously absent is all the online poker ads and banners everywhere. What will attendance be like this year? I expect there to be maybe a slight drop off...but nothing overly significant.

I saw the post in Wicked Chops about Phil Ivey boycotting the WSOP this year. Not because of anything having to do with Caeser's/Harrah's but with Full Tilt and their inability...or just flat out refusal, to refund player's money to them. I get where he is coming from. Seems like Phil is taking a pretty fair approach to the whole situation. Oh...and in their report about the Freeroll, I got a mention...though it wasn't exactly the mention I would consider flattering. CHECK IT OUT HERE. Oh and you might notice my quirky remark at the bottom of the page!

Meanwhile...Congratulations to local boy Sam Barnhardt for taking down the Freeroll and $300k. Sam started at my table that first day and had a few very interesting, eye-opening plays that led me to believe he might not stick around very long. And he even got down to almost nothing and had just about lost hope before he doubled up and had that hope restored. And then he goes and wins. Wow. Sam is a really, super-nice guy and I'm very happy for him.

The other night in the nightly at the Venetian...I looked like I was headed for a certain final table. I had everything going right all night. First was close to $4200...which I certainly could use. It's always so big to snap off even a little score early in the trip...to give you a lot better options on what and where to play. Like yesterday's tourney at Rio...which would have been a $7000 hit for first. Well, in the nightly...sitting on $42k stack at 600/1200...this lady with no skills whatsoever makes it 2500 UTG. I re-raise to 5500. Small blind...only guy who has me covered...makes it 15,000. She lady goes all in for 22k. I go all in for 42k. He snap calls with KK. Yeah...how do I lose? One outer? Nope...dude with KK goes runner runner for a 4-card flush. And instead of having over 100k and cruising...I was out 5 from the money. That one really sucked.

Spent Monday at the topless pool at Mirage....BARE...with my good buddy James Dunning. It was okay. The pool is tiny. You have to spend $100 or more just to sit on a chair. You had your usual collection of total dorks. And of course...the women who SHOULD be topless weren't, and the ones who SHOULDN'T be topless, of course...were. Bleh!

My buddies Jason Young, Christian Iocabellis and Charlie Oliver...as well as Kai Landry...my roomie, have all arrived finally. So fun times are surely on the way.

Hey...readers. Do you see that poll I keep putting over there on the right hand margin? I do that for you clowns! For another little FUN twist to my blog! How bout voting once in awhile, dammit!

I have been seeing a LOT of people running around in Bustout Poker gear out here, already. I wonder....''Hmmm, how many of these guys are buying this stuff by clicking my link up there and saving 15% off their purchase...while making me a little scratch?" I am guessing the answer is 'not enough of them!!!' So...before TOO many people start wearing this bad-ass shit and make it not cool anymore (like Ed Hardy and Affliction) you need to get yourself some gear while its still ahead of the fashion curve. I keep waiting for the head honchos to make a customized shirt with a crazy monkey of some kind. Waiting patiently. I might have to go win a bracelet or a couple of Venetian events to get a fire lit under their ass! I've already had about ten of you tell me you buy something like that!

Okay it's ten after...and as much as I would like to go into detail about some of the most annoying humans in poker so far this trip...about a couple of horrendous outfits...and other things would inevitably make you spit your coffee all over your computer screen there at work, I have got to get over to Venetian and see who feels like giving away their chips early. 

MONKEY